


My heart has followed all my days something I cannot name

by ZhanYingReminiscences (HamburrgerBites)



Category: The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, It's so fluffy you're gonna die, Lan Zhan is a busy husband, M/M, ON HIATUS (i'm sorry!), Wei Ying is the best waifu, character tags will be added as the story progresses, nothing but fluff, post-epilogue, post-episode 50
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 21:10:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20842070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HamburrgerBites/pseuds/ZhanYingReminiscences
Summary: Wei Ying suddenly found it hard to swallow. To be parted was a thing to be regretted. To be separated, a thing unacceptable. Though he had stopped playing the tune, the melody Lan Zhan had composed was still echoing in his ears, in his head, in his heart. The man never told him the name of the music… and yet Wei Ying felt that he might have known what it was all along. Wrapped in those familiar warm arms, he saw in Lan Zhan's eyes something he hadn’t been able to place, and in that moment everything became clear.





	My heart has followed all my days something I cannot name

**Author's Note:**

> _My heart hath known, and thrilled to know_  
_This unnamed presence that it sought_  
_And when my heart hath found it so_  
_"Love is the name," I thought_  

> 
> ** [The Name — Don Marquis](https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/name-6)**
> 
> * * *
> 
> I read a few interpretations of fans about the drama's open ending. Some thought Wei Ying saw and heard things that weren't really there. Some thought Lan Zhan really _was_ standing behind him, but only after years have passed (read a good one **[here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20348761/chapters/48250336)**). This fic, on the other hand, is how I interpreted the ending, which takes place immediately after those two dorks separated for literally mere minutes (I love them.) I hope you like it!  

> 
> (Also, a good way to make this more painfully emotional is to listen to the flute version of Wu Ji, **[here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Hnia9vl9g)**.)

The tune sounded sadder, somehow.

When Wei Wuxian had first heard the song, hummed low in the reverberance of that dark cave, he had detected something hopeful in it that had calmed him. There was a subtle optimism to it that dared to make a promise—of good, of soft, kind things. He was drawn to it. Willing to listen to everything it had to say even though he didn't fully understand what it was asking him to do. It comforted him, then.

It was breaking his heart now.

He was aware that he was pouring his own feelings into the melody this time, instead of trying to recreate the emotions he'd felt when Lan Zhan was playing it. Ah... His version sounded so sad. A tragedy undertoning what should have been a beautiful ballad. Was he truly this sad? Not parted for even an hour, and he already felt lost, purposeless, missing a piece of himself that he hadn't realised he'd harboured.

The song was nearing its end, the wind atop the mountains quieting as if in mourning, and Wei Ying thought maybe... Maybe if he held the last note long enough... Maybe then... What...?

Ah. He felt so sad.

Lan Zhan...

"Wei Ying."

His breath caught—the last note he'd been trying to hold cut like a kite with an arrow.

Lan Zhan...?

No. It couldn't be, right? He had been pouring his own feelings into the song, and there was no optimistic hope in it. The both of them were to part, and meet again changed. Different. Things that may have been now impossible.

Wei Ying swallowed. The voice, so familiar, so comforting, did not speak again. He must be hearing things. He must be hallucinating. He wanted something he did not know what so much that his own brain was tricking him to keep him sane. Wei Ying swallowed, and slowly, he turned.

Lan Zhan stood with his eyes saying a million words. Wei Ying caught them, one by one, as he took back the breath that was cut—the kite that had been struck now airborne again, resilient and stronger.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said, and it was almost a prayer.

The great Hanguang-Jun's voice was shot through with something indescribable. "Wei Ying..."

Wei Ying realised he was smiling. He realised he was crying. He shook himself. Sucked in more air.

"Did you forget something?" It was incredible how he could articulate the question so calmly. After years of practice, he could hide his most turbulent of feelings from perception. Yet—

He did not know who took the first step forward. But before he knew it, his body had crashed into Lan Zhan's. His arms wrapped around the man's neck clinging on as if his life depended on it. Lan Zhan's own arms gripping his waist, squeezing like a child to his favourite toy.

Lan Zhan smelled of lilies. Were there lilies in the Cloud Recesses? Oh, he missed that place so much. He could laugh. Wei Wuxian! Missing the Cloud Recesses!

Wei Wuxian, missing Lan Zhan after less than an hour's separation.

Lan Zhan's hands shifted to pull him in closer, and Wei Ying buried his face in the crook of his neck. His nose touched the warmth of Lan Zhan's throat. The winds atop the mountains were stirring again, scattering cool mist, but Wei Ying thinks he might just burst into flames.

"Lan Zhan..." Wei Ying mumbled against Lan Wangji's skin, and under his lips the man seemed to grow warmer.

He didn't know how long they stayed that way, embracing as Little Apple grazed leisurely nearby, bells tinkling lightly. Eventually Lan Zhan shifted again, a little. Wei Ying shifted next, and then they were drawing back and _oh_, were those tears in Hanguang-Jun's eyes?

Lan Zhan parted his lips, preparing to speak, and Wei Ying drew back closer to listen. "I... did."

It took a moment for Wei Ying to catch his meaning. When he did, he really did laugh aloud. "I see," he replied, fondness bubbling in his chest. "What did you forget?"

"A promise."

Wei Ying’s heart skipped. Lan Zhan’s arms were still around him. He asked in a whisper, “What did you promise?”

So slightly as to be undetected, Lan Zhan’s fingers tightened on Wei Ying. “To have no regrets.”

Ah… Wei Ying suddenly found it hard to swallow. To be parted was a thing to be regretted. To be separated, a thing unacceptable. Though he had stopped playing the tune, the melody Lan Zhan had composed was still echoing in his ears, in his head, in his heart. The man never told him the name of the music… and yet Wei Ying felt that he might have known what it was all along. Wrapped in those familiar warm arms, he saw in Lan Zhan's eyes something he hadn’t been able to place, and in that moment everything became clear.

Wei Ying gripped Hanguang-Jun's robes and buried his face in the man's chest. "Lan Zhan." He was crying, yet he knew it wasn't because Lan Zhan had come back this one time, but because Lan Zhan would always come back every time.

That comforting voice was speaking. "Wei Ying... What's wrong?"

The Yiling Patriach sobbed. He withdrew from the man's chest, wiping his eyes, and gave him a wet smile. "I'm just tired," he said, grinning as more tears fell.

"Then—" Lan Zhan hesitated.

Wei Ying smiled for him, his most loyal companion, still holding onto the white robes.

"Then," Lan Zhan tried again, surer, "let's go back home together and sleep."

Wei Ying could see everything in those eyes.

"Okay."

**Author's Note:**

> 诺 = Promise  
These characters have ruined my life, you guys. Welp.  
This fic is gonna be a collection of short domestic stories (think falling asleep together, cooking for each other, innocent teasing and generally being so sweet you'll get cavities). You can read them individually, but they're best read in order. I have a few already planned out (but as yet unwritten LOL) so I hope you'll be patient with me!  
Thank you for reading!  
"问心无愧而已。"


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